Predator UAV The secret to getting this imagery, which includes full-motion video (FMV), to more troops is the Tactical Common Data Link (TCDL). TCDLs will be installed on new UAVs and retrofitted on old ones weighing more than 30 pounds by the end of 2010, said Colonel Eric Mathewson, director of the Air Force Unmanned Aerial System Task Force. TCDLs will allow the UAVs to communicate with any computer or video screen connected to the Secret Internet Protocol Router network, the Colonel said.
Reaper UAV Today’s UAVs transmit data in many formats. This makes it difficult to share still imagery and video between services and sometimes even between units of the same service. The TCDL will transmit a standard wave form instead of a proprietary one that will allow it to communicate across service boundaries, Mathewson said. Common data links will make it easier to transmit information and ensure that there is a common understanding of the systems themselves. The demand for Air Force UAVs remains high; the service now has 33 Predator and Reaper orbits — round-the-clock combat air patrols — over Iraq and Afghanistan. The goal is to reach 50 orbits by 2012.
Unfortunately, the rush to get UAVs into the war zone, though, led to some shortcuts, Mathewson said. “Some of the [data] standards weren’t even available,” he said. “We fielded the capability as soon as we could, and they didn't have these data links initially. This variation of TCDL wasn’t around. It’s a newer iteration of the [common data link] family. It's now available and the services are implementing it.” The TCDLs will be installed onto Predators and Reapers in 2010 as part of a larger electronic suite called the Predator Primary Data Link, which will include the TCDL.
(Source: Air Force Times, Michael Hoffman + Kris Osborn)